1.30.2008

I'll let this video speak for itself. What's sad it that millions of people have bought this guys books and thousands of churches have bought into his purpose driven church ploys. But for more commentary, feel free to go to biblicalthought.com/blog They really give it to him.

1.27.2008

When it rains it pours! Just as it was announced that the Mormon President died, news of the death of the Greek Archbishop has come down the grapevine. He was being treated for cancer. What does the Greek Orthodox church really believe? The newest book from Robert Morey answers just that. It's called "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian?" You can see a review at biblicalthought.com It will blow you away. Lest people think I'm trying to be mean at the death of a religious figure, I want you to know that I use this page for the discussion of religious news and ideas. My prayers are with the families of both the Mormon president and the archbishop. However, I make it known to all that I use this page to advance the true biblical gospel. It is unfortunately not found in Mormonism, and while there may be saved people in the Orthodox church, their gospel is severely distorted. Because peoples souls are at stake, I present videos, books, and web sites to get them to think about the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the ways man has used religion to distort it.

News of the death of the President of the Mormon church has come as he as been fighting diabetes. He was 97. In an interview a few years back he had made the statement about DNA not disproving that native Americans came from the Israelites. The following video shows that this is false. You can read his denialhere . You can see the video DNA vs. The Book of Mormon here

1.26.2008

Whoever these guys are, they are getting attention. After only five days, the first youtube video (posted below) has had over 1 million views. Here are the newest postings from anonymous.

As I said, over the next few weeks I will be dealing with the subject of Scientology as it has been the flavor of the month. Having said that, feel free to visit the following sites for more informationwww.xenu.nethttp://www.scientomogy.com/stopscientology/http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s04.htmlhttp://askthescientologist.blogspot.com/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.htmlhttp://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Scientology_Cult_Videos_197_2006.php

1.25.2008

Here is a very odd and creepy video. Who made it? We shall see in time. So far, they are calling themselves "Anonymous" and "Legion". Perhaps it's from angry ex-scientologists. Especially those who paid a lot of money to get to higher (Tom Cruise) levels and were left disillusioned when they didn't develop super-powers. Not to jump the gun, but in the next few weeks I will be dealing with Scientology on the site and will discuss its very unique and downright crazy ideas.

And just for fun...

the caption that says this is what they believe was added to remind people that THIS IS WHAT THEY REALLY BELIEVE!

Pro-Life has a great section dealing with pro-life messages in the media. Indeed I wanted to think a little about that. In the last year movies dealing with issues of pregnancy have been in the spotlight. What makes it interesting is that they have been positive messages of life. For instance, Kerri Russel's last two movies, "Waitress" and "August Rush", we're both movies about unexpected pregnancies where abortion was not an option. The faith themed "Bella" won much acclaim and awards (and was robbed an Oscar nomination) and it too dealt with a pregnant woman's decision to have her child. The much acclaimed hit (see review below) "Juno" did a great service to the cause of life by showing that abortion is not the only option women have.

Having said that what does all this mean? It means that maybe, abortion does poor at the box office. But more so, maybe the pro-life message is making ground. Small steps none the less. I placed a picture of a developed fetus. Pictures seem to speak louder than words these days. But, what can I say in favor of the pro-life cause? Well, the moment the sperm and egg combine, they create a new life. Inside the womans womb is a new DNA, and it's growing. Imagine for amoment we could put it in the womb of a cow. Is it a cow fetus of a human fetus growing in the womb? This isn't a wart, or a pimple or a booger. What's growing will one day love, and cry, and sing and fall in love and have faith. It's not just "some" tissue that's growing. Having said that here are a few websites and video to get you thinking about ways to speak about abortion:

prolife.comcarm.org-there's a great section on abortion. It's very compassionate to the mother to behttp://www.justthefacts.org/clar.asp This site is visually appealling. www.prolifetoolkit.comwww.abortionfacts.com

As we think about where our country is culturally, let's make sure we all have a hand in making it a culture of life and not death.

1.23.2008

(No spoilers I promise)No doubt, many of us have been anticipating this movie ever since we first saw the very interesting trailer last summer. After months of theories about the movie, the title and the basic plot were given. Having seen the film I can tell you that it lives up to the hype. J.J Abrams along with director Matt Reeves have delivered an original piece of movie making. A lot of early reviews have said it is genre redefining, and I have to admit it does explore new territory. But this film may carry the burden of being a one trick pony. Are we really going to see a lot more monster movies told like this? Blair Witch was made almost ten years ago. Time will tell. Both were equally dizzying, but in the end live up to the hype.The whole movie is shot with a hand held camera (or so it seems) and it chronicles the real time responses of young New Yorkers as they deal with the chaos brought on by a monster attack. There were a few places where the movie was reminiscent of 9/11. You have smoke in the air, people running in the streets, and buildings are collapsing everywhere. And all you can year is a eerie growling from the middle of Manhattan. But this is more than a survival story. It's about protecting those we love-even if it means encountering one scary monster in the process. Here is where it again is reminiscent of 9/11. But this time, it's not so much about the army or cops, but about normal people who want to help their friends amidst the chaos. And chaos there is. Even with all of that, these brave people who make a unselfish choice. Love and friendship play strong themes in the movie. I had to ask myself a few times: would I do this for my friends? or would I just take off and take care of myself? A little humor is sprinkled throughout the by way of the camera man and makes for some good comic relief. For all the thousands of people running around in a very real looking New York, it's the camera that becomes the star of the show. From night vision, to light source, to paparazzi like journalism, it's used in very creative and unique ways. These things are normally hated in media,but they are redeemed in this story. And it works! This story is trying to be as real as possible. The trailer has a scene where the statue of Liberties head is thrown on the street. What do people do? Film it on their camera phones! And it was completely believable. The scene in the tunnel (along with what they find) was amazing for how real it came across. But let us not forget the main feature: the monster. It is very hard to describe. But let's just say that it is SCARY! It's even more scary for how real it all comes across. Think 24 meets Blair Witch and Independence Day. The acting was well done and I hope to see more from these actors. It's interesting, that in an age of gonzo journalism (Perez Hilton) and paparazzi coverage (TMZ) and even You Tube, this movie seems to use those elements to tell a very excellent, though dizzying, story. My one pet peeve is that that camera seemed to have a lot of energy in the battery, and seemed impervious to destruction! But I'll leave that be. I was made dizzy, and still am a bit, so if you're like me, sit in the very back and have a cold cup of Sprite near by. A tremendous ending, and if you wait till the last scene you'll see an interesting surprise but you have to look carefully. Cloverfield is a must see 8.5/10.

Because I care about your cultural consumption, I wanted to give my two cents about who should have been nominated for an Oscar and films to look out for. First off, It's true, sci-fi/fantasy and comedy movies get the short end of the stick...sometimes. As you may have read, I loved "Juno" and am glad it got a nomination. Jason Reitman (the director) may have gotten the nod, but may not win. Like I said, comedies get the short end of the stick!"300" got robbed a best adapted screenplay nod. If you read the original graphic novel, and compare it to the movie, it's almost 95% the same thing. The only things that were added were scenes consistent to the film and that added to what was already happening."Sunshine" was a great sci-fi movie, that I hope wins other awards, that was snubbed. It deserved a nomination for original screenplay and for its visual effects. A lot of people say "Zodiac" and "3:10 To Yuma" deserved a nod. A friend of mine was really creaped out by "Zodiac". Of course, a few wholesome movies got nominations. "Ratatouille" will probably win best animated film. It was better than most live action films this year. "Once" received a nomination for best original song, but I also believe it deserved one for best foreign film. If "The Full Monty" won a few years back, this one deserves it all the more. If you think I missed something, or just want to add something to the list, feel free to send me your thoughts. I must still say that last year the winner was clearly "Little Miss Sunshine".

Tim Keller's New Book: Reason for God. A response to a lot of anti-God sentiment out there. He's a smart guy so I can't wait. It will be interesting to see what arguments he uses.

Young Restless Reformed: This book is being published by a writer for Christianity Today. He chronicles the resurgence of the Reformed faith among younger evangelicals. Yep, that's you and me. I hope it makes a splash.

Christianity's Dangerous Idea by Alister Mcgrath. Ok, even though it's out already, I do want to read it. It looks at the most dangerous idea the church has ever had: letting people read and study the bible for themselves!

Mark Driscoll's new books: Vintage Jesus and the book that will be the sermons he preaches this next month. Checkout the site for mars hill church the sermons are pretty good. Driscoll has six books in total coming out this year. Two on the old and new testament, one on the practical application of the atonement (death by love) and a few others.

Dr. Bob Morey's new book on natural theology! Part one is coming out this year. Part one is at about 300 pages so far. His notes on Job show that natural theology is dumb! (isn't it interesting that Job'sfriends never pray or call on on scripture? God appears at the end and tells them they are all wrong) You can get them here

Steven Macasill (good friend) of biblicalthought.com (also where you can find Dr. Morey's books) has a book on stratiotology he's been working on for a while. Yep, the doctrine of the christian as a soldier of Christ. I can't wait!

Mark Dever: Though many of his books are out already (yes I will review them soon!) there are a few books of his that are in my pile of reading. You can get his books here

As always, let me know if there are any books you want me to review. I will get back to reviewing the books A new kind of Christian and Putting the amazing back into grace at some point. Have a great time this year everyone.

1.01.2008

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Will Smith can carry a movie. He does an amazing job at being scientist trying to make things right. The story beings with the traggic events having already begun. Over the course of the movie, you get the story bit by bit and find out what really happened. Smith does a great job just by himself and a dog. It's full of action, suspense, great special effects, and a chilling story line. Go see it!

JunoFor those of you who live in the Inland Empire, Lamelles theater in Claremont is a great place to see independent films. You can also go to Waui Waui's coffee shop or to one of the two wine stores afterwards. Having said that, Juno was the small film that was playing recently. It tells the story of a young lady (about 16?) who gets pregnant and tries to decide what to do. Ellen Page does a great job as the quirky, gawky smart mouthed teen Juno. Think Napoleon Dynamite with edge. The music was also great. Very indie/folkie sounding. More so, the dialogue was snappy, funny and totally made this moivie. I wondered how the issue of abortion would be approached. Keep in mind that a sex blogger (Diablo Cody) wrote the story and it was directed by Jason Reitman (director of Thank You for Smoking). It was approached somewhat matter of factly and with a sense of humor. We see Juno deal with being pregnant and her decision to have the Baby and give him up for adoption to a unique couple. I did feel that teen pregnancy was dealt with too easily. We didn't see what most pregnant women go through over the course of the year. Also, the consequences were dealt with too easily, it seemed like it was something you do in a weekend and never think about again. However, the responsability Juno displayed definitely redeems this movie. Though it's sad that the guys role in the pregnancy is downplayed. I think this has to do with the male non-invlovement stereotype. Overall, great film and you should take your older daughters to see it. It is for peple 15 and over.

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About Me

I'm a Reformed Baptist (SBC), who hoping to finish my M.Div from Golden Gate Baptist Seminary. I blog at letmypeopleread.blogspot.com and have a mobile notary business. For more information visit franknotary.com I am also an aspiring writer/screenwriter.